This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

This song belongs to one of the two waterthrushes that can be found in Illinois during spring migration. These are the brown-backed, water-loving warblers that teeter their rear up and down as they forage in flooded woodlands and along the muddy banks of streams. This waterthrush has a wash of yellow in their narrow eyebrow and behind the brown streaks on their chest and neck. This is the northern waterthrush.

Of the two waterthrushes, the northern arrives later in the spring, so a bird found in march or early April is probably a Louisiana, while one found in late April or May is probably a Northern. While the two birds are very similar in appearance, their calls are quite different…the Louisiana’s song starts with a slurred whistle and ends in a jumble, while the Northern’s is staccato and ends as if saying “chew” “chew” “chew”. Here’s the northern waterthrush again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW